Hilltopper

Dueling bills https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2025/09/29/senators-introduce-safe-act-for-college-athletes-nil-rights-womens-sports-sports-broadcasting-act/86428219007/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2025/09/29/nil-bill-in-us-senate-allows-athletes-to-go-back-to-school-after-draft-uniform-sponsor-patches/86429347007/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2025/07/10/college-sports-bill-ncaa-congress/84538608007/

All the questions are approved by the coaching staff prior to taping. Joe just asks them.

Thank you for making my case. BTW, my daughter is a UT grad and my son is a UA grad. Both experienced violent crime right next to their apartments while attending.

The father of a former player was murdered in cold blood just blocks from the campus. Some segments of society seem to be willing to accept this violence as just a part of city living. It's more than just perception, it's a fact that the violence in urban areas is there.

Somebody else posted this on Facebook. I agree with all.the conclusions. Akron Football: When Exposure Becomes an Auction Block For decades, the Mid-American Conference (MAC) built its football brand on one thing: exposure. Midweek “MACtion” meant that on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in November, when most of college football was idle, the MAC had the national stage. Even if stadiums were half empty, Akron, Kent State, and their peers could say: “We’re on ESPN.” That pitch worked for a while. Players got national airtime, coaches got recruiting leverage, and universities got their names mentioned on broadcasts that reached millions of households. But in the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) era, exposure has flipped from asset to liability. Exposure, Then and Now Before 2021, a Tuesday night breakout could put a MAC athlete on the NFL radar. Coaches could sell recruits on the guarantee of national TV games. For universities like Akron, whose football profile lagged far behind Ohio State, the ESPN window was a rare equalizer. Now? That same highlight package on ESPN is an advertisement for Power 4 programs to swoop in and recruit Akron’s best players away—with six-figure NIL packages. The math is brutal: • MAC collectives average roughly $0.5 million annually. Akron’s is closer to $341,000.¹ • Power 4 schools now routinely spend millions per year per athlete. • A MAC player who shines on national TV is no longer a point of pride—it’s a scouting reel for someone else’s roster. Exposure without the financial power to retain talent just accelerates the talent drain. The Optics Problem Even when players shine, the pictures ESPN broadcasts are damaging. Attendance across the MAC collapses for midweek games: Saturday contests averaged 16,738 fans in 2018, while midweek games averaged just 12,255—a 27% drop.² At Akron, the numbers are even worse. In 2022, fewer than 3,000 fans attended a sunny, 80-degree home game against Miami (OH). For context, in 2005—a Thanksgiving morning blizzard game with –6° wind chill—more than 7,000 showed up. What ESPN cameras show now isn’t “passionate fans” or “hidden gems.” It’s empty stands, lifeless atmospheres, and lopsided scores from overloaded buy games. That hurts Akron’s brand far more than it helps. The Enrollment Squeeze Akron’s enrollment collapse compounds the problem. In 2011, the university had 25,190 students.³ By 2024, it had dropped nearly 40% to 14,813.⁴ That decline affects everything: tuition revenue, student fees that help fund athletics, and the size of the potential fan base. With fewer students and shrinking resources, Akron can’t afford to prop up an FBS football program at the level the system demands. A Conference in Decline The larger MAC picture isn’t rosy either. The league’s national perception has declined sharply since the early 2000s, when it produced NFL names like Ben Roethlisberger, Julian Edelman, Charlie Frye, and Josh Cribbs. In the past 20 years, the quarterback output has been thin: • Keith Wenning (Ball State, 2014) — limited to practice squads • Dan LeFevour (Central Michigan, 2010) — never started in an NFL game • Kurtis Rourke (Ohio → Indiana, 2025) — drafted but unproven The league that once marketed itself as a talent incubator now serves as a farm system for wealthier schools. The Core Problem: Exposure Without Retention For Akron, the ESPN window no longer sells. National visibility doesn’t build fan support, it doesn’t stabilize enrollment, and it doesn’t retain talent. Instead, it broadcasts the program’s weakness: low crowds, heavy losses, and players destined to leave once they succeed. The very tool meant to elevate the MAC now underscores its irrelevance. Exposure without retention is brand erosion. The Path Forward Akron faces a stark choice. Staying in the FBS MAC means continuing to cash the occasional $1 million “buy game” check and enjoying ESPN visibility—while enduring blowout losses, talent drain, and empty seats. Dropping to the FCS would lower costs and restore competitive balance, but at the expense of national profile and big payouts. Neither option is glamorous. But pretending that exposure alone is still a benefit in 2025 is self-deception. The NIL era has changed the rules. Without new resources or a strategic reset, Akron’s midweek ESPN appearances don’t build the brand—they auction it off. ⸻ Sources 1. NIL reporting: MAC collectives average ~$536,000 annually; Akron’s closer to $341,000. 2. The Ringer: 2018 MAC attendance — 16,738 (Saturday) vs. 12,255 (midweek), –26.8%. 3. University of Akron Institutional Research: enrollment peaked at ~25,190 in 2011. 4. Ideastream: Akron’s fall 2024 enrollment at 14,813.

Jackie is very deserving of this honor. Her behind the scenes work has been instrumental in the success of many Zips teams.

That information is correct.

Everything you say is true. JoMo's fatal flaw is his inability to attract and nurture the type of donors needed to fund those NIL dollars and program enhancements. John Groce has done an exceptional job at doing this and the results are evident. Jared Embick the same. At a MAC level school you need someone who is willing to help sell the program to the potential donors. At the P-5 schools where Joe had his success this was not necessary. The programs history sold itself. There were legions of development personnel eager to wine and dine to secure those donations. That infrastructure doesn't exist at Akron. We don't have that winning football tradition. It's going to take a different kind of coach than what have now if we expect different results.

That was weak crap by Finley!

What you really need to work on is your puke in the trash can game!

I don't know about that. Have you ever visited the Parthenon?

They have been do that for years. Last year 15,000 free tickets distributed to various organizations. Around 150 redeemed. Joe Akron just doesn't give a crap about UA football. We would draw the same if we were competing against Mount Union and other D3 programs at 1/10th the cost. Figure out how to let soccer and basketball compete at a higher level without pretending we can compete in football.

Thank you for your analysis comrade. Do you really think that someone making $200k is wealthy? Lol

What exactly did Guthrie do to discourage attendance at soccer games?